The Portland daily press., 1887-01-05

Such was the topic Of DIR. James A.
Spalding's lecture, the first In the free
Mechanics course, delivered at Mechanics
Hall last evening in the presence OF very
attentive and interested audience. The doc
tor made the apt quotation:
Heaven and the stars from their rich stores Of
beauty formed thine eyes"
So sings the old Italian poet Petrarch OF
his Laura's eyes, And in the literature OF
all nations and in all ages Of the world sim
liar words Of alteration and praise Of the
eyes may be found. .
Addison tells us that "a beautiful eye
makes silence eloquent; kind eye makes
contradiction assent; an enraged eye makes
beauty deformed" Yet II we attempt to
analyze this irresistible power Of the eye, or
to discover where the essence Of its beauty
lies, we meet with considerable difficulty.
because the eyeball in and by itself offers
but few If any attractions except its color.
Yet thoughtful attention will cause us to
assent TO three cardinal points ON which the
beauty Of the eye depends; its form, as in
fluenced by the lids, and decorated by the
eyebrows and eyelashes; its color; and its
brilliancy or fire.
The form Of the eye is largely dependent
ON the shape of the opening between the
eyelids, so that with large or small opening
Of the lids we say that one or another person
has large or small eyes; or if the opening
between the lids varies, then we say that the
eyes are long or short, or that the owner has
almond eyes. Or again, the eyes Of the
Eastern Asiatic tribes are called oblique,
when really if we examine them closely we
see that the apparent obliquity is due simply
to an arching fold Of skin above them.
A beautiful eye should not be too much
exposed by the lids, and the lids should also
show a charming curve. This example we
see in statues of the gods of Greece. especial
ly in those of Jupiter, Juno and Apollo,
whilst Venus has eyes of more oval shape.
The large eye has always been considered
as proof Of a loftiness Of SOUL and we are
expressly told that Socrates was thus dis
tinguished. And at the same time we know
that the Romans spOKe Of eyelets when
urged on his warriors to deadly strife by
promising them in Paradise "the l0veliest of
houris with large black eyes" And the
Arab poet cries:
"with her large black eyes she robbed me Of my
mind and senses"
NtNtIlutltS5, IlluuOOolducC WIiicIS we
see frequent mention Of the "long, lotus
eyes" and Of 'the long eyes that are Of the
color of the water lily"
The form Of the eye is enhanced by the
eyebrows, for IL well defined and properly
curved they set of the eye from the broad
white expanse of the forehead. As Button
says, they are the shadows In the portrait,
elevating the tints and the features. The
ancients used to extend them by painting
far out upon the cheeks, whilst It Is still
fashion in some countries to bring the inner
ends of the eyebrows together, and even TO
carry them down upon the bridge Of the
nose with paint. Our sense OF beauty Is
offended If the curve Of the eyebrows Is too
well marked, giving to the face that startled
expression which we see in the face OF
Mephistopheles.
Much depends on the color Of the eye, and
we notice that amongst those nations that
are fond Of gorgeous colOrs the dark eye Is
preferred, whilst elsewhere the blue eye Is
regarded as the finest. Eyes neither brown
nor blue are invariably given to the deeeitful
creations Of the poets, as Shakespeare
'green eyed" jealousy, and Tasso's yellow
eyed Prince Of Darkness" Yet there is
nothing In the color Of the eye which can
justify us in drawing any conclusions In re-
gard to the moral or mental characteristics
OF the individual. An uncertain color In the
eve, Offends our sense Of beauty, therefore
we are inclined TO be offended at the possess
sor Of such eyes. That is the sum and sub
stance Of that theory. Munehausen had as
we well know one eye blue the other brown,
so that If he felt joyful sorrow the joy illu-
minated his brown eye, whilst the sorrow
trembled in the blue.
The fire or brilliancy Of the eyes Is largely
dependent on their form and color. For II
the eye is large, that is TO say, large part OF
it is exposed by the opening Of the eyelids,
then there will naturally be q larger refec-
tiOn from the exposed surface, in other words
the brilliancy Of the eye will be great. We
.fsa.f flan IN
reality as q result OF Joy we open the eyes
widely as if to grasp the object which has
caused us happiness, and as we thus open
the eyes they reflect a greater amount OF
light. So sorrow wells the eye, whilst In
reality the lids droop in sorrow, u smaller
portion of the eye is exposed, and therefore
the reflection and the apparent brilliancy
are decreased.
The eyelashes are a source Of beauty by
yelling too brilliant an eye. Or as Thackeray
remarks;
''It was doubtless to mitigate their bright
ness that Miss Laura's eyes were provided
with two pairs Of wells in the shape of the
longest and finest eyeiashes."
The hre Of the eyes Is also largely influenced
by the color, for according To well known
laws of contrast. the darker eOlOrs reflect the
greater light, hence dark eye apparently
shines more brightly than the blueiSh eye.
Camoens says:
"Oh glorious eyes; the sun grows dull beneath
your beams; twas right, that foolish thing TO
mock who all too bold competed with your hre."
The Chinese compare the brilliancy Of the
eyes TO fire-fieS, and mirrors, while the Per
slams call them jewels, and the old German
epics exclaim, that "Her eyes shone like the
full moon"
To produce the highest effect Of beauty,
both eyes should be as much alike as possible,
and move together symmetrically.
In conclusion, the face should be empha-
sized, that just as mankind are rendered
beautiful by the appropriate adaptation, cut,
fashion, and color of their clothes and Orna-
ments, so the beauty of the eyes Is largely
dependent upon the beauty Of their sur
roundings.
military and Naval lorphan AsyIuun.